Gender

1) General rule
English nouns rarely change form, even to indicate gender. As a general rule, only nouns referring to
people and some animals reflect gender
in their form. By the same token, unlike many other languages, the adjectives modifying nouns will remain
unchanged.
Example: My poor little dog died.

2) However, certain nouns especially those referring to people may have different forms to
indicate masculin or feminine usage:
man woman
gentleman lady
actor actress
uncle aunt
father mother

The same can be said of certain male and
female animals:
a buck, a doe
a ram, a ewe
a bull, a cow
a stallion, a mare

3) In other cases, the word 'male' or 'female' is added, if it is considered
necessary to be specific:
a female cat
a male giraffe

4) Pronouns
Note: If the gender of the person or animal is known, one will generally use the pronoun 'he' or 'she' to
refer to it, as appropriate. When the
gender is left unstated, the pronoun 'he' is generally used when speaking of people, or 'it' when speaking of
animals. Some objects are also
considered to be gendered in certain usages: some people may refer to a boat or a car as 'she.'
5) Man/Woman
Certain nouns (especially the names of professions) are traditionally associated with men or women, in
which case one signals exceptions to
the tradition by adding 'woman' (or 'lady') or 'man' to the term:
They are in a group of male
dancers.
My wife prefers to see a woman
doctor.



1. bull - [No answer] cow
2. cat - [No answer] female cat -or- she-cat
3. man - [No answer] woman
4. doctor - [No answer] woman doctor -or- female doctor
5. buck - [No answer] doe
6. uncle - [No answer] aunt
7. actor - [No answer] actress
8. father - [No answer] mother







Plural


> As a general rule, the plural is formed by adding '-s' to the singular form of
nouns.
shoe --> shoes | book --> books | river --> rivers
> Nouns ending in 's' or 'ss' will generally take the ending '-es' :
bus --> buses | kiss --> kisses
> Words ending in consonant + 'y' will generally take the ending '-ies' in place of
the 'y':
party --> parties | supply --> supplies
> A few words have very irregular forms in the plural:
one man --> two men
one woman --> two women
one person --> two people
one foot --> two feet
one mouse --> two mice
one goose --> two geese
one tooth --> two teeth
one wife --> two wives
one child --> two children
one knife --> two knives
one thief --> two thieves
one dwarf --> two dwarves (or: dwarfs)
one potato --> two potatoes
one leaf --> two leaves
one life --> two lives
one loaf --> two loaves
one half --> two halves
> A small set of words do not change form in the plural:
one moose --> two moose
one sheep --> two sheep
one aircraft --> two aircraft

> Words of Greek or Latin origin which have retained their original endings will
generally take the plural form associated with the language they are drawn from:
one alumnus --> two alumni
one syllabus --> two syllabi
one alumna --> two alumnae
one alga --> many algae
one criterion --> many criteria
one forum --> many fora (or : forums)
one thesis --> two theses
one hypothesis --> two hypotheses
one phenomenon --> two phenomena
one cactus --> two cacti (or : cactuses)
one diagnosis --> two diagnoses
one oasis --> two oases
one analysis --> two analyses

> A few nouns are invariable or collective, always indicating a plural meaning:
She gave me some information.
Michelle has a lot of clothes.

1. table [No answer] tables
2. child [No answer] children
3. thief [No answer] thieves
4. mouse [No answer] mice
5. potato [No answer] potatoes
6. tooth [No answer] teeth
7. alga [No answer] algae
8. goose [No answer] geese
9. wife [No answer] wives
10. life [No answer] lives

Possessive

It is used with nouns referring to people, groups of people, countries, and
animals. 'Belonging to' or 'ownership' is one of the relationships it expresses :
John owns a car. ('John' is the possessor or owner)
It is John's car.
America has some gold reserves. ('America' is the owner)
They are America's gold reserves.

Form
To form the possessive, add 's ('apostrophe -s') to the noun.
If the noun is plural, or already ends in -s, just add: ' (an apostrophe).
For names ending in -s:
In speaking- we add the sound /iz/ to the name, but -in writing- the 's form is
common. e.g. Thomas's book, James'sshop.
Examples:
The car of John = John's car.
The room of the girls = The girls' room.
Clothes for men = Men's jobs.
The sister of Charles = Charles's sister.
The boat of the sailors = The sailors' boat.

The possessive is also used to refer to shops, restaurants, churches and colleges,
using the name or job title of the owner. Examples:
the grocer's the doctor's the vet's
the newsagent's the chemist's Smith's
the dentist's Tommy Tucker's Saint Mary's

I've got an appointment at the dentist's at eleven o'clock.
TEST Say if these sentences are correct or wrong.
1. Peter's boat is really beautiful. 2. I like dog's John. It is so cute! 3. I had a
walk with Thomas's girlfriend. 4. Women's jobs are very hard! 5. I went to
the dentist.

ANSWERS 1. Peter's boat is really beautiful. OK | 2. I like dog's John. It
is so cute! WRONG> John's dog | 3. I had a walk with Thomas's
girlfriend. OK | 4. Women's jobs are very hard! OK | 5. I went to the
dentist. WRONG> to the dentist's.

Adjectives: forms & usage

> Forms:
Adjectives are generally invariable in English and do not agree with nouns in
number and gender.
a blue car
the great outdoors
a group of young women
However, a few adjectives have a connotation which is slightly masculine or
feminine. Thus, one says that a woman is beautiful while a man would be
called handsome.
Adjectives indicating religion or nationality (or a region, state or province)
generally begin with a capital letter, whether they refer to people or objects:
She is an American student.
They go to a Catholic school.
They enjoy Breton music.

> Usage:
The adjective will be placed, with very few exceptions, in front of the noun it
modifies. When two adjectives precede a noun, they can be connected by a
comma (,) or by the conjunction"and." In a series of three or more adjectives,
one usually uses "and" before the last adjective in the list.
Examples: I like short novels.
That fellow will be a competent worker.
She writes long and flowery letters.
He works long, hard hours.
She had a mean, old and overbearing step-mother.

An adjective may follow the noun when it is in a predicate (after the verb) or in a
relative clause. (In relative clauses the relative pronoun may be implicit.)
Examples: He was a man (who was) always happy to help others.
She is a woman (who is) true to herself.
They were entirely satisfied.

TEST
Complete this sentence with an article, a noun and an adjective: Peter has ...
- adjectives: elegant / short / brown / long / little / blue / warm / curly
- articles: a / an / (nothing)
- nouns: coat / gloves / beard / eyes

ANSWERS > examples (there are more correct answers): an elegant / warm coat - brown / short gloves -
curly / little beard -blue eyes - an elegant, warm, blue coat